Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
in a school shooting?
By Dafne Lazaro
English 1011- ECE
Mrs. Rivera - Period 1
For many years, the theory of nature versus nurture has been a debatable topic with
relation to criminology. Are there ways to prevent a criminal from being born? Is this birth
genetic or environmental? The truth is that it can be either or both since there are multiple factors
that contribute towards the mental and emotional instability of a person. One particular crime
that has risen in the last two decades is gun violence, more specifically, in the school
environment. Each of these tragic events has been led by an individual, and the best solution is
believed by many people to be found in a measured control of guns. This argument can be a
significant method to reduce the danger of fire weapons in poor hands, but due to political
controversy an effective solution is yet to be found. However, if the country took initial steps
such as evaluating the mental health of its citizens then the misuse of firearms will be reduced.
One of the most vulnerable locations for this type of attack is the school. In many cases, it has
been seen that the attacker has been a former student or a person will close relation to a particular
school. For this reason, schools and physicians should focus on students’ mental health to
prevent a future of gun violence in the school setting. It is important to be able to identify the
symptoms/ characteristics of a school shooter, target the group of people who are most
susceptible to emotional instability, and to find the proper mental health evaluation that will
The commonality of traits between school shooters proves that there may be an early
detection of a mental disorder in a person. According to the authors of the Heritage Foundation
(2018), there are three main traits that a shooter exhibits: 1. He/she experiences extreme
resentfulness, anger and a desire for revenge because of perceived social alienation, 2. He/she
came from a broken home, 3. He/she has experienced economic insecurity in the past. At least
one out of the three traits have been observed in each school shooter; for example, the Parkland
attacker, Nikolas Cruz, was raised by his adoptive mom since the age of six and lost her two
months prior to his attack. There were also many acts of aggression on his part during his time at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that led to his expulsion. In addition, The New York
Times (2018) reports that the police was often at Cruz’s driveway and had received notice of his
brutality towards animals. Overall, it became obvious that Cruz had developed a disturbance in
his emotional behavior, but no evaluation was put into effect. In addition, the gunman of Sandy
Hook and Chadron High School both came from divorced parents and the shooter of Red Lake
Senior High School had parents who never married, a dad who committed suicide and a stepdad
who divorced his mother. However, this is not to say that children who are raised by non-typical
families are likely to become violent, rather it implies that those who experience trauma or
It has become obvious that ignorance to these behaviors only leads to tragedy. There
identifying who are mentally unstable. A report by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S.
Department of Education titled The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative:
Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States stated that 69% of those
committing violent acts with guns in the school environment ranged between the ages of 10-19,
meanwhile, only 15% were adults between the ages 20-29 who targeted schools (Dr. Walz and
Bleuer, 2015). According to John Woodrow Cox et.al (2018), authors of the Washington Post,
since the year 2000 the youngest school shooter was a six-year-old boy who brought a loaded
gun into his elementary school and shot a girl that he disliked. Since then, the median age for
school shooters has been 16. Based on these statistics, it can be inferred that a school shooter will
most likely be a teenager rather than an adult; for this reason, they should receive priority for
Through the years of growth and development, a child experiences many hormonal and
physical changes. It is normal for a teenager to experience insecurities and mood swings,
however, an extreme case may imply a serious mental disorder that may require specialized
attention. Most normal teenagers are characterized by their moody behavior during puberty; for
this reason, it is difficult to differentiate between normal teenage behavior and the symptoms of
depression, anxiety, and other emotional difficulties. It is complex to diagnose teenagers as they
can be easily caught up in their emotions and will tend to create distance from adult figures in an
attempt to gain independence. Parents are advised to keep an eye on their teens for any signs of
behavior changes. However, according to Friends for Mental Health (2018), an organization
created by a board of counselors and resources specialists, “It’s important to remember that no
one sign means that there is a problem. It’s important to examine the: nature, intensity, severity,
and duration of a problem.” Some of the most concerning signs include the following: decrease
in enjoyment and time spent with friends and family, a significant decrease in school
performance, frequents acts of aggression, disobedience and verbal lash outs, feelings of
hopelessness, sadness and anxiety, and dangerous thrill-seeking behavior. Due to the difficulty in
understanding young adults, many misinterpret dangerous actions for regular behavior and vice
versa.
In the school environment, students are more susceptible to emotional instability than
adults; early observation may be required to fully understand the needs of a person. While in
high school, a student may face social problems such as bullying, peer pressure, stress, and harsh
school discipline.
It is difficult to identify a possible perpetrator because not all fit one picture. There exists
no clear symptoms or factors for what lead people to commit these mass acts of violence.
Common myths are that school shooters were once victims of school aggression, isolated, or
rejected. It is also believed that only males are capable of doing this type of crime; despite the
fact that females are 95.3% less likely to fire a gun at school, there are cases that prove
otherwise. For example, at Salvador B. Castro Middle School, Los Angeles (2010), a 1 2-year-old
girl shot two of her classmates: one in the head, and one in the wrist; in 2016, Dorothy Dutiel,
age 15, shot and killed her girlfriend May Kieu at Independence High School, Arizona and later
committed suicide. According to Dr. Peter Langman (2017), a psychologist and foremost expert
on the behavior of school shooters, “70 percent of middle and high school students have
experienced bullying at some point.” To this, he adds that bullying is very common, yet school
shootings are not. He discusses that although some school shooters have experienced some sort
of social alienation prior to committing their attack, most did not decide on their actions solely
on revenge. In fact, in his study, he discovered that only 1 out of 48 shooters targeted his
aggressor during the attack. Based on this information, it can be inferred that the factors that
Although there are attackers who fall under a common umbrella of traits, there remain
individuals who do not present their true intentions; at times they can be the least expected
people to be considered dangerous. According to Dr. Walz and Bleuer (2015), members of the
(41%) earning A’s and B’s in their coursework. “ In addition, Dr. Langman (2017) adds that
an attacker may be not necessarily be a loner nor an outcast, such as the case of Jaylen
Fryberg who was voted homecoming prince at his high school one week prior to becoming a
school shooter. The only explanations for these cases rely the on the shooter’s psychopathic
According to Jugal K. Patel (2018), reporter for the New York Times, since 2012, there
have been at least 239 school shootings nationwide, where 438 people where shot and 138 were
killed. While gun control laws may be implemented to keep firearms off the streets, an initiative
that can further prevent more deaths is the early detection of mental disorders. Giving proper
mental health evaluations at all schools will prevent students from developing violent behavior,
thus preventing school shooters. According to the Armstrong Center for Medicine and Health
Hospital (2018), it is important to note that 1 in every 10 young adults and 1 in every 5 children
have a mental health challenge, but about 80% of them do not receive the care they need.
Likewise, Dr. Walz and Bleuer (2015) states, “Students who are lacking positive constraints may
be more likely to develop patterns of aggressive behavior due to anger or resentment towards
others, a lack of healthy relationships, or academic struggles in school.” To resolve this, school
officials may take the approach of establishing tutoring and mentorships to assist students who
are struggling academically and who need a healthy relationship with an adult figure. This will
encourage new friendships and a stop to bullying which will help students to not feel lonely or
misunderstood.
The Association for Children’s Mental Health (2018), a family based organization the
provides advice and counseling resources, suggests having teachers offer flexible
accommodations for students that suffer from stress and anxiety in the classroom. By doing so,
students will have the option to re-do work that they did not feel confident turning in. In
addition, if teachers were taught strategies to better recognize anxiety in students, then they will
be able to equip them with the tools to manage their anxiety. Lastly, it would be ideal to create a
plan with the problematic student for situations where the students cannot concentrate to due to
worries. Overall, by taking a few reasonable steps to get to know the students, school faculty will
have a better opportunity to understand their situations and have a better evaluation of their
behavior.
In order to put an end to the rise of gun violence in the school environment, we must
analyze the psychological factors that affect the mental health of people and lead to the creation
shooter, target the group of people who are most susceptible to emotional instability, and to find
the proper mental health evaluation that will prevent students from becoming violent. By doing
T., Malcolm, J., & Swearer, A. (2018, May 26). 3 Common Traits of School Shooters.
https://www.heritage.org/education/commentary/3-common-traits-school-shooters
Byrne, J. (2018). Normal teenage behaviour vs. early warning signs of mental illness.
http://www.asmfmh.org/resources/publications/normal-teenage-behaviour-vs-early-warnin
g-signs-of-mental-illness/
Cox, J. W., Rich, S., Chiu, A., Muyskens, J., & Ulmanu, M. (2018, October 29). The
Washington Post's database of school shootings. Retrieved October 30, 2018, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/school-shootings-database/?utm_ter
m=.e573d42ba993
Fausset, R., & Kovaleski, S. F. (2018, February 15). Nikolas Cruz, Florida Shooting Suspect,
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/us/nikolas-cruz-florida-shooting.html
Langman, P., Dr. (2014). Statistics on Bullying and School Shootings. 1.1. Retrieved October
https://schoolshooters.info/sites/default/files/bullying_school_shootings_1.1.pdf.
Martin, S. (2017). Five Questions for Peter Langman. Monitor on Psychology,48(10), 33.
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2017/11/conversation-langman.aspx.
Patel, J. K. (2018, February 15). After Sandy Hook, More Than 400 People Have Been Shot
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/15/us/school-shootings-sandy-hook-parklan
d.html
Szathmary, Z. (2018, February 4). School shootings with female shooter. Retrieved October
Walz, G. R., Dr., & Bleuer, J. C., Dr. (2015). School Shootings and Student Mental Health:
Role of the School Counselor in Mitigating Violence. Vistas Online. Retrieved October
https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/vistas/school-shootings-and-student-ment
al-health.p